BAMBUSA FASTUOSA 
HoweVER difficult it may be to distinguish between some 
of the species of hardy Bamboos, this very stately and noble 
plant stands out quite conspicuously among its fellows. 
Tall, graceful, majestic, nobly plumed with a foliage which, 
for richness and colour, is without a rival, how can it fail to 
make a striking feature in the wild garden? It was first 
imported from Japan four years ago by M. Latour-Marliac 
of Temple-sur-Lot, and was, for the first time, sent out by 
him last year. Unfortunately, it is still very difficult to 
obtain. It was first described by me in the Garden news- 
paper at the beginning of 1895. 
The culms of my plants are from 12 to 15 feet high, and 
rather more than 3 inches in circumference. In their first 
year they have thrown up new shoots nearly as important as 
the parent stems. The young culms are of a bright green 
colour, heavily splashed with purple-brown blotches. They 
are straight and very hollow, the wood being a mere shell 
and easily split. The internodes, which are grooved, are 
short, only from 5 to 6 inches long in a stem 15 feet high. 
The lower end of the culm for 2 or 3 feet is bare of branches. 
At first these appear in twos and threes, but higher up 
on the stem they become more numerous. I have counted 
